Hi, I just bought iDye and am wondering about advice for dying a cotton duvet (not a cover, an actual duvet) that I'd like to breathe some new life into. I like the idea of doing it in the washing machine. The duvet will be somewhat scrunched in there but not super scrunched. One packet of dye or two? Does it come out as vivid as the picture on the packet--does vividness depend on how much water I use? Should I run the smallest water amount, or the one that lets the fabric swoosh most freely? Should the rinse water also be hot? Will it dye evenly? Fixative or salt? What if I want a tie-dye effect? Duvet is cotton, what sort of string should I use? Anyone have any experience with this sort of project?

In order posed: depends on the amount of fabric you are dyeing. Because you are working with a full duvet and the filling material is going to absorb some of the dye, I'd suggest two packets.Depth of color (vividness) depends on a couple of things, dye to water ratio (as you suggested) and also time in the dye bath and heat of the water. If you want a smooth dye job you'll want to use more water as that allows for freest movement of the fabric and better distribution of the dye. Rinse can be cold or hot and future washes should be cool/cold. Use salt during the dye bath and if you want you can use the iDye Fixative which is added during the final rinse.If you want a tie dye effect you can use any sort of string for tying. I like kite string, strong but not too thick. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate.

That's great advice. Have you tried the colour magnet product? I was wondering, if I were to use it to draw on fishes and waves, it should dye darker on the "magnet" spots, right? Do the lines come out sharp or soft on the edge? And about the dyes. If I dyed a lighter colour like yellow and didn't like it and dyed over with red, would it come out orange or red?

I love the Color Magnet! Yes, you could draw on the duvet, but because it does have the filling material you might get some soft edges. Are you planning to use the pen or the bottled Magnet? One thing to keep in mind with the Magnet, if your dye bath is very strong there isn't as much definition between the Magnet design and the background. A weaker dye bath creates strong definition.As for overdyeing, if your red is deep enough you should get a red, however the yellow could warm it up to more of a scarlet-y color.

I would probably like thickish lines and a bit of a soft edge might be nice. Would the bottle be better? Does it come with applicator or does one brush it on. Good point about the dye bath. Does the magnet stay active after the rinse? I mean, if I dyed too light and went back and dyed again, would the magnet still be active, or would I need to reapply it?

The bottled Color Magnet is very thick, a little tricky to brush on evenly - it works best as a medium for screening or stenciling. It doesn't come with an applicator.Once you've rinsed you'd need to reapply the Color Magnet for it to attract more dye.